France

Manat – Serious food and wine

Manat in Perpignan – Introduction

Manat in Perpignan is a seriously good restaurant in Perpignan run by Yuka Okugawa and Marc Meya who have cooked together in both Japan and France and now run this very popular restaurant in the centre of Perpignan.

As can be imagined from the first paragraph the food reflects both countries with some French dishes reflecting a Japanese sensibilty and vice versa.

We also discussed with Marc his cooking history and realised that we may have tasted his food before as he was one of the early chefs at one of our favourite bars in Paris, namely Aux Deux Amis. He might therefore have been cooking on one of our innumerable visits there.

When you arrive, you will see that there are some tables outside for the smoking brigade. Inside there are a few tables and then spces around th bar with very comfortable padded chairs.

The service is sharp and we therefore did not have to wait long for the menu of the day (stamped with the date) to arrive. It is a relatively short menu with enough dishes to work out a well rounded meal. We had absolutely no trouble finding dishes which we were anxious to try.

There is also a very good wine list for natural wine lovers such as ourselves. In fact, we quickly spotted wines from Laurent and Melissa at nearby Mataburro and Marc arrived with our chosen bottle (Otium 2022 made primarily from Grenache Noir) with a smile on his face as he was going to visit them the following day to pick up his allocation of their wines. Needless to say, he also approved of our choice and agreed that it would match the dishes we had ordered.

Manat – The Food

So we were then treated to the dishes we had ordered and which are shown below along with the menu. Don’t worry about the menu being in French as Marc speaks perfect English and is happy to translate for you.

First we had ordered the croqueta de morue (cod croquettes) with Assau Iraty cheese from the Basque country and tomato ketchup.

These croquettes were very tasty and the outside coating was crisply delicious.

The next dish was a blockbuster! It was titled “Haddock, pommes grenailles, salicornes, lait Ribot”.

As you can see below, it was presented beautifully and each mouthful of the main ingredients was deliciously bathed in a sauce based on fermented milk. The dish was comprised of haddock and new potatoes with salicorne green over the top.

This truly was the dish of the night!

Next came another wonderful interplay of flavours. “Tartare de Veaux, algues Wakame, radis l’eau de mar”.

You can just see some of the pieces of uncooked veal poking out from under the sliced radishes and the wakame leaves. The veal was excellent and the accompaniments added to the textures and flavours that make a wonderful dish.

This was followed by a Japanese influenced dish of prawn and ham dumplings (called ravioli) with a delicious ponzu sauce.

Next was one of the three larger dishes on the menu which was grilled steak with a mushroom and anchovy sauce (almost hidden) and some absolutely stunning padron peppers piled on top.

We then enjoyed two desserts, a panna cotta served in a tall vessel and a blanc manger served with some confit apricots and a sorbet flavoured with acacia.

The panna cotta:

And the blanc manger:

As you can see from the Manat photos this was a stunning meal with crisp, clean flavours in every dish. The quality of the ingredients and the care taken with the cooking and presentation shone through every dish.

You can find out how to book (recommended) by clicking on the link to their Web site here.

We have posted this story about Manat and have also included it in our summary of places to eat in France outside Paris here.

The address details are provided below:

Additional information

Name: Manat

Street: 3 Rue Cité Bartissol

Suburb: Perpignan, 66000

Phone number: +33 4 68 08 77 26

Opening hours: Dinner from 19:00 Thursday to Monday

Reservations: Reservations on line at https://www.restaurant-manat.com/